On a somewhat-related note, two California high school teachers have gained notoriety for their "One Dollar Diet Project," in which they tried to eat only one dollar's worth of food per day for an entire month.

The results? They don't recommend the diet (flour, rice, potatoes and the ominous-sounding "meat alternative steaks" ) but said the media attention surrounding the month-long project accomplished their goal of raising awareness about international poverty.

I shop at different grocery stores, depending on where I am, what we need and what's on sale. I love food, totally enjoy cooking and would volunteer to grocery shop before doing any other household chore.

I like Walt's for staples like canned tomatoes, bananas, peanut butter and pasta. Food4Less is great for milk, yogurt and everyday cheeses. Jewel has an occasional sale on dried beans and lentils that just can't be beat. For wine, it's Trader Joe's.

(I have a couple of local grocers, too, when tooling around. Northwest side? Caputo's Italian market. Midway Airport? The Egg Store. Way up on the North Side? Andy's Fruit Ranch.)

Wal-mart likes to bill itself as the cheapest game in town, but the Aldi-is-cheapest debate has been alive and well in the Southland at least as long as folks wanted to build one in Orland Park. And the Sam's and Costco have loyal devotees who swear by their prices.

But not everyone loves the grocery aisles as I do. Most people want to get in and get out. You certainly have ideas about which grocery stores are best for your family budget -- do you know, I mean really know, which is the cheapest?

My parents cut a lot of corners when I was a kid to feed on us on the cheap.
Spaghetti paired with "poor man's garlic bread" (white bread) or my personal favorite for its unpleasantness-- chipped beef on toast (as my dad called it, "s@#t on a shingle").
They were hardly healthy options, but how can you really diet on a budget?
I've got a few ideas for saving at the store and on the scale.

This story originally ran in the SouthtownStar on 12/07/2008. Republished here since links only stay up for 30 days.

By Lauren FitzPatrick
Staff writer

Daren Jarosz could practically eat for a week from a single roasted chicken.

Hot chicken dinner leads off. Remaining chunks of meat turn into chicken salad sandwiches. Smaller bits of meat also lend themselves to a stew. Then the bones (and the tasty skin and guts) go into a deep pot of water on the stove and voila! Soup is born.

"Chicken soup is a classic example of using everything with zero waste," said Jarosz, who cooks 300,000 meals a year for 200 residents at the Smith Crossing retirement community in Orland Park, as well as for his wife and children. "In my travels and training, the skins and the guts are what gives you the flavor in the food. Bones add flavor. Insides - you take and roast them up - turn into sauce or gravy."

Recycling leftovers pushes his staff's creativity in the kitchen.

And, in both kitchens, he said it keeps him under budget.

"My food budget at home is a lot more important to me," Jarosz said.

Because you can cut coupons until the cows come home. You can make a list of sales from the Sunday circulars till you run out of ink and circulars. You can comparison shop throughout the Southland.

The thing is, no matter what the bargains, if you don't eat all the food you buy, you're chucking money into the garbage.

The Not-So-Mighty Dollar

We're all facing tough times. Here's a place to share
personal stories of struggle and triumph over adversity. Share your
money-saving tips. And join in the debate about the forces that are pulling
down our economy.

Search

About this Archive

This page is a archive of entries in the Eating on the cheap category from December 2008.